NEW DELHI, Nov 11: The Supreme Court has declined a petition urging the Centre and others to establish guidelines for the regulation of trading and mining of cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies, decentralized digital or virtual currencies, operate independently of a central bank.
A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud stated that the primary reliefs sought in the plea were more of a legislative nature. The bench, including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, noted that the petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, seemed to have the “real purpose to seek bail in proceedings pending against the petitioner.”
“We are unable to subscribe to this course of action. The petitioner would be at liberty to move the appropriate court for the grant of regular bail. Insofar as the main reliefs are concerned, they are more in the nature of a legislative direction, which the court cannot issue under Article 32 of the Constitution,” stated the bench in its order issued on Friday.
Article 32 addresses the right to constitutional remedies, and 32(1) grants a citizen the right to approach the apex court for the enforcement of rights. The bench observed that the reliefs sought in the plea, filed by a man from Uttar Pradesh, also included a direction for prosecuting cases involving digital assets/cryptocurrencies.
“We accordingly dispose of the petition granting liberty to the petitioner to pursue his remedies in accordance with the law,” it concluded.
